Modern lawn care equipment significantly simplifies the task of setting up new landscaping, as well as caring for existing lawns. To this end, motorized sod cutters are typically used to ensure a clean look of the lawn by cutting away the unnecessary sod to demarcate the lawn boundaries or to make room for other vegetation, for example.
Typically, a motorized sod cutter comprises a cutting blade mounted on a frame with three or four wheels which are driven by a small engine. To get the sod cutter to the job site, the user may start the engine and use a sod cutter handle to guide the wheels toward the job site. Once at the job site, the user may lower the cutting blade, which is typically connected to a separate cutting blade handle, in order to begin the sod cutting process while guiding the sod cutter along the desired cutting path using the sod cutter handle. The cutter drive powers the cutting blade to assist with the sod cutting process. Motorized sod cutters may also comprise multiple forward speeds. The higher forward speed is typically used as a transport speed to get the sod cutter to the job site more quickly using the assistance of the engine and is not intended to be used when the cutting blade is lowered for sod cutting because the higher speed may not properly cut the sod. The lower forward speed, on the other hand, is intended to be used when the cutting blade is lowered for sod cutting.
Often, the user shifts the sod cutter into the higher forward speed in order to quickly transport the sod cutter to the job site but neglects to shift the sod cutter into a lower speed intended for sod cutting when the cutting blade is lowered. The end result is a poor cut and an overtaxed machine with a decreased reliability, significantly shortened useful life, and increased maintenance costs due to the shortage of cutter drive power necessary to counteract the strength of the sod roots. A similar problem exists when the user is using the cutting blade and shifts to a higher speed intended only for transporting the sod cutter.
Consequently, there is a need for a mechanism which automatically shifts the sod cutter into the appropriate transmission gear when the cutting blade is lowered by the user and automatically raises the cutting blade when the sod cutter is shifted into a high transport gear by the user.